Baby boomers are just as pushy as Gen Y in the workforce

CONTRARY to popular belief, Generation Y workers are no more pushy in their career ambitions than more experienced employees.

Specialist finance recruitment firm Robert Half says companies need to be careful not to alienate more tenured employees by appearing to pander to the needs of Generation Y.

The group's survey of 300 CFOs and finance directors found 38 per cent believe Gen Y employees were the most difficult to recruit into finance and accounting roles, compared with 24 per cent for Generation X and 10 per cent for baby boomers.

Nearly half of employers said Gen Y staff were the hardest to retain, compared with Gen X (18 per cent) and baby boomers (six per cent).

Some 62 per cent of bosses attributed this to high expectations among Gen Y workers for career advancement, followed by expectations for remuneration (53 per cent) and work-life balance (41 per cent).

But Robert Half director Andrew Morris said while baby boomers and Gen X worker might be easier to retain, they also don't expect their careers to stand still.

"In fact, the priorities of more experienced employees closely match the expectations of Gen Y," he said in a statement today.

Eighty-eight per cent of executives who cited challenges in retaining baby boomers attributed the difficulty to high expectations for career advancement, followed by expectations for remuneration (71 per cent) and work-life balance (47 per cent).

Similarly, of those employers who said retaining Gen X was a challenge, 63 per cent cited career advancement, followed by expectations for remuneration (43 per cent) and work-life balance (39 per cent).

Mr Morris said ambition was no substitute for experience.

"Tenured employees are a huge asset to any company," he said.

"They have worked hard to build their skills and, as they look to round out their careers, they expect to be recognised and rewarded."